Description

Join in on a memorable weekend of natural history investigations in the San Juan Islands hosted by the directors and naturalists of Canoe Island French Camp. Canoe Island is a private 47-acre refuge lying just 15 minutes by boat from the Orcas Island ferry landing. Joseph and Connie Jones will educate us about our surroundings over our two-night stay, and feed us five French-inspired meals from dinner Friday through breakfast Sunday. After dinner Friday, you'll have the option to choose between a guided natural history walk or a sunset cruise in the 27-foot Voyageur Canoe. For the night owls, there'll be an observational astronomy session. Early risers are welcome to join Joseph for a birding-by-kayak session both mornings. After Saturday breakfast, we?ll board a boat and cruise to Sucia Island State Park on the northern edge of the San Juan Island archipelago. This unforgettable State Park hosts fascinating geology including five different terranes of Mesozoic and Paleozoic age. These terranes originated from all corners of the planet, and through plate tectonic processes, rafted together to create the San Juan and Gulf Islands. On Sucia, we can observe evidence of repeated glacial periods that covered the islands by ice up to a mile thick, and brought a diverse sample of rock types from western Canada. The island also gives evidence to early inhabitants arriving here as early as the Pleistocene including the megafauna that once roamed the hills and valleys. While traveling between the islands, we?ll search for marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, orcas and humpback whales. The Salish Sea is home to a variety of birds as well. Saturday evening will close with a campfire as we watch the sunset. Private accommodations will be provided in tipis and cabins; bring your own bedding and towels (bedding can be provided for those flying in). Participants are welcome to bring their own wine or beer to complement meals. Join us for this exciting debut field excursion!